The Death of Innocence
by Evil-Ekat
Summary: Growing up is optional. Until the circumstances force you to become the person you swore you'd never be. A story involving a destroyed Mystery Shack, midnight snacks, and a seemingly bottomless supply of Mabel juice. Rated T for older themes.


**Sooo, there is a guilty pleasure. I would normally never write something like this, thay being a reaction/sequel to a recent episode, but I needed some stress relief. Naturally there is MY OWN EKAT TWIST ON LITERALLY EVERYTHING, which usually translates out to horrible things in store for the reader of course hehe...**

**This in no way this will ever be close to cannon, and yet I still couldn't resist. Probably has to do with too many rabid plot bunnies, and not enough time.**

**Personally I think that Frankford (Screw the name Stanley! Frankford for president!) Will be a complete jerk and not be anything like Dipper was expecting. Maybe he even is feuding with Stan. I can hardly see Alex following the wills and whims of every internet fan ever. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up destroying the journals, and berating Dipper for following the same dangerous path that he did. Anyways, let's not talk about the future. On with the story!**

**Spoilers for the dreaded episode!**

**Before anyone asks, "Mabel juice" i****s not capit****alized because it's just unbranded juice. Like saying orange or apple juice. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls.**

* * *

Mabel sucked in a gasping breath, her eyes snapped open, leaving her wide awake as she lay in bed. It was just a dream, it was all just a dream... This time at least. The girl chewed on her lip, glancing over at Dipper. Her brother tossed and turned feverishly in bed, curled up in the fetal position around his journal. Or was it his journal? Now that the author had returned, she just wasn't so sure.

Mabel wasn't sure of anything any more! Dipper's words still echoed in her head. She had almost killed them all. She could've destroyed the entire universe, all because she put her trust in the wrong person. Stan, he was the right person though! Dipper had been wrong! If she shut down the gateway, they never would've found him! Her brother was so quick to forgive her after the fact, more eager to swarm the author with questions... It made Mabel feel sick to her stomach.

Something, something was just not right about the way that things had played out, and she didn't like it in the slightest. She had almost destroyed the entire universe! There should have been more repercussions to it than that! Just something, anything! She needed someone to talk to!

Dipper was out of the question. She had betrayed her brother, her own twin! It was still to someone who was family, but the betrayal! How could he even stand to look at her?! Stan, there was no way she could talk to him either. He had gone to "bed." Still exhilarated and tired after the day's events. Stan was the guy she had sided with. Talking to him made it feel like anything he said would be wrong.

The feeling in her tummy grew worse. She felt like the walls of the room were closing in on her and the air was practically unbreathable. Unable to stand the feeling any more, Mabel got out of bed. She shivered as her bare feet met the cold floor. The girl carefully picked her way through the wreckage of the Mystery Shack. Over-stepping boards, nick-knacks, insulation, and nails sticking out of the structure. Everything was a complete disaster. Not that she would have ever been able to prevent the surges of anti-gravity...

Not knowing what do to for her sore stomach, she decided that the only thing there really was to do was eat something, and maybe find some safe medicine for it. Her bare feet padded against the floor, quietly making their way to the kitchen.

Luckily, it was probably the best room in terms of survival. Nothing was overly broken up in there. Right away, she grabbed a glass and filled it to the top with juice (The water pipes were busted now of course.) until the point where it should've overflowed. It took a bit of searching to find something suitable to eat, and she had to settle with cereal.

Mabel filled her bowl with the remaining cereal dust, and pulled out the unopened carton of milk. Luckily, it had not spilled since it was sealed shut. Mabel made sure to give it a good shaking before opening it, venting a few of her feelings in a rather tired, half-hearted fashion.

Staring at the bowl on the counter, Mabel felt her stomach squeeze again. Suddenly, she didn't feel so hungry any more.

She had nearly killed them all...

Did that make her an attempted murderer?

Would Dipper ever trust her again?

What had she done to deserve this?

"Are you seriously telling me that after thirty tears, you still put back the empty box of cereal?!"

Mabel was surprised to hear a quiet voice snarl this from behind her. The annoyed comment was not directed at her, but rather at an unpresent Stan. Or was his name really even Stan? She turned around to face the man, the author with his head in the kitchen cupboard.

"Dipper says the same thing." Mabel softly answered.

The author jumped too, fumbling with the empty box of cereal until he ended up dropping it. He shut the door, staring her down in suspicion and something else. Something that Mabel did not quite understand.

"What are you doing awake?" He finally inquired. "It's nearly three."

"I couldn't sleep." Mabel admitted, hanging her head.

The author nodded wisely, seemingly sympathetic with her plight.

"What are you doing awake?" The girl asked.

"I don't sleep." He gruffly responded, tossing the cereal box behind him.

"Not even when you've been up for a really long time?" Mabel challenged, feeling curiosity bubble from within. "What about at sleep overs? You have to get tired then!"

"My coffee has higher caffeine levels than blood- I mean my blood has higher caffeine levels than coffee."

"You should try some of my Mabel juice." Mabel responded.

The girl quickly scampered over to the fridge and pulled out her one surviving container of Mabel juice. The author eyed the sparkles and plastic dinosaurs with obvious disdain. He took a step away from the odd girl.

"I'd rather have a coffee."

"There's no water." Came her simple answer.

The man was silent, weighing his options. Was it worth the potential food poisoning? He needed to stay awake. He had to stay awake otherwise bad things would happen to him. He knew that Bill would be itching to-

"Last chance!" The girl sung, shaking the container.

At this rate, he'd take what he could get.

"How bad can it be?" The elderly man sighed.

He let the girl pour him a glass of the mysterious substance. It looked almost like blue and pink sludge of some sorts. With sparkly stuff and other floating things. Things that did not look to be quite so edible. Would this mystery drink even work?

The girl handed him the cup of "juice" quickly, seemingly reticent to stay too close to him. She didn't seem to be the shy type, but it was probably just caution on her part. The man could not say that he blamed her for it.

The author swished around the contents of the cup, inspecting it for a moment. This was not going to be a pleasant experience. But he supposed it couldn't hurt. Lethally at least. Then, with a tilt of his head, he shrugged and forced himself to drink the stuff.

It was... Sweet, with a hint of plastic dinosaur. The glitter in it scratched against his throat; A rather unpleasant feeling that he would not be eager to feel again. The actual taste of the concoction was fine. It was merely the... Additives that got in the way. Wincing still, he did his best to seem like he had actually enjoyed that monstrosity.

"It tastes like juice alright." He gagged.

He set his glass on the counter. But then the girl filled it with even more of that vile substance! He groaned, but the little thing seemed oblivious to his plight with the odd drink. All he wanted was something to eat! And here he found himself in the kitchen with this little girl who kept insisting that he try the juice.

"You can have the last bit of cereal if you want." She offered, nervously holding up the bowl and spoon. "I promise that I haven't eaten any of it yet."

Staring at the girl, he _knew _that she wanted him to say no. It looked like she herself was starving after long day of stressful events. The plaintiful gleam she had in her eyes was a good enough indicator of what she truly felt. And yet, she still tried to give what little she had for him. Almost a complete stranger.

As much as he would have liked to eat something for the first time in a long time, the girl's honesty and valour at the matter were impressive. The brunette probably needed the strength much more than he did.

"It's soggy now anyways." The elderly man waved off.

The brunette nodded, a tiny glimpse of a smile on her face. She poured herself a second cup of that abomination, and took the bowl over to what little remained of the overturned table. She cleared a spot on the ground before sitting cross-legged. The girl's purple nightie completely covered her legs and feet, making her look even more tiny.

He joined the girl at the "table" sitting down on a wooden beam across from her. Of course, she seemed to notice that he "accidentally forgot" his next glass of gnome barf, and was kind enough to retrieve it for him. The author desperately looked for somewhere to pour the stuff without hurting the girl's feelings, but she just kept staring at him.

Left with no choice, he downed another swallow of the poison, making it look more convincing. The kid kept staring at his face though. Well, no surprise there he supposed. She most likely saw the differences between him and his brother dearest, but was quickly searching for more. That didn't stop him from feeling less annoyed with her. The author decided to delve in to this "conversation" thing with her.

"So tell me, what are you doing up again?"

What little hint of a smile she had was wiped off her face. The girl stared down at her lap, twiddling her thumbs. She didn't want to speak about that it seemed. Was he to blame as the reason why she was up? Well, he could take a little heat.

"I don't sleep. I can wait all night if I have to."

"I-I nearly killed us all." The brunette admitted.

"And?"

"I betrayed my brother's trust, and he was too quick to forgive me.".

"So?"

"I'm a traitor!" Mabel spat. "I should have listened to him! But if I did then you wouldn't be here!"

"Do you _want _me to be here?" He asked, taking a second sip of the concoction.

"I don't know!" The brunette said, throwing her arms in the air. "Stan was so happy! And Dipper never would have found out who you were without this. B-but."

"You nearly killed us all." He filled in.

She nodded tearfully, hanging her head so that her long, brown hair covered her face. Tears sparkled and snapped in her eyes. Frustrated, hurt, confused and deceived. The words seemed to echo around the room in a haunting fashion, reminding the girl of what she had almost done. What her choices could have caused.

"I-I nearly killed us all." She quietly repeated.

The author felt something tug his heartstrings, well maybe not his heart, but at something within his brain. The cortex maybe? No, that had a different function...

"It was inevitable." The author said in a firm tone of voice. "Had you chosen to shut it down, things would've still had chance of collapsing."

The girl's attention snapped back to him.

"Y-you mean-?"

"It was inevitable. Luckily, we survived. Who knows what would've happened if you picked the other one? Maybe we would be dead for real."

"B-but you never would have been here then!" The brunette reiterated.

The author gave another one of his nonchalant shrugs at this. His attention focused back on his latest cup of evil. Had he not just finished the last one? This would make it his third! Still, he decided to brave it. The elderly man drank the rest of the Mabel juice, sans the dinosaurs, in one big gulp. Oh that stuff was horrible. Sweet, but still horrible. Alright, well maybe it was not completely horrible, but it was still pretty bad.

"So?"

"Don't you care that I nearly stopped you from seeing Stan?!" The girl asked, growing agitated at his emotionless responses.

"Why should I?" The author asked, picking up his empty glass and studying it.

Maybe it was some magically refillable glass of some sort? A haunted cup? A very polite ghost that didn't want him to run out of it? No, scratch that, only very vindictive ghost would make him suffer like this. _Unless_, it was a nice ghost that was just really dumb like the girl and thought that he enjoyed the substance...

"He's your brother!" The brunette yelled, getting to her feet.

"Ford would get over me." The author dismissed, rolling the glass in the palms of his hands. "He has you two after all."

"B-but-"

"Your brother forgave you pretty quickly." He added.

"But that's not normally Dipper!" She exclaimed, waving her arms. "He's just glad that my choice led him to discovering who the author was!"

The man gently pried the girl's hands away from the jug of semi-decent juice that she would occasionally take a sip from.

"No more of this stuff for you." He scolded.

"You and Dipper both." The brunette grumbled, already feeling the after effect of her crazy substance.

"Yes." The elderly man pacified, rubbing his stubble. "Tell me; What's Dipper like?"

He smirked as the girl seemed to calm down from her hysteria and confusion again. She sat down, ruffled feathers smoothed as she had something to distract herself with. The topic of her brother seemed to help her relax in her seat again. The author drank the last of his juice. It was amazing how she was able to create something so sweet without any horrible after taste to it...

"Well, Dipper's been searching for you like, all summer. Especially after he used your advice to save me from those gnomes on the day he found it-"

The author frowned.

"So you mean he has my journals?"

"No. Just the third one. Anyways, after that he started to become more and more intent with where he looked for you, doing all sorts of crazy stuff! He had an entire board and count down list of suspects an everything! He even suspected Old Man McGucket at one point!"

"Old Man McGucket? Is that what Fids calls himself these days?"

"He sorta' lost his memories trying to forget what he worked on with you." The girl explained. "But we got them back from the Society of the Blind Eye after we stopped them from erasing people's memories of the supernatural-"

_"What?! It was him all along?! H-how could he?..."_

"-But that's a different story for a different time! Anyways, Dipper gave him back his laptop, the one that mister idiot triangle guy Bill destroyed- Wait! I forgot that part! But that's also another long story where-"

_"Bill?! But t-they're just kids! Twelve-year-old kids! Even I couldn't deal with him, and I'm older than them! What was Ford thinking when he-"_

"-Yeah. So after that we never left Wendy and Soos alone with the radio on, because Soos would end up blaring that song she hates and-"

The girl continued to spill her many colourful stories of the adventures she and her brother with friends had been through in Gravity Falls. Gnomes, multi-bears, robots (Oh he couldn't wait to get his hands on Fids for endangering them!) Disguised as lake monsters, hide-behinds, ghosts, vindictive dream-demons named Bill...

How could his brother just let them do all of this?! What sort of a guardian was he anyways, letting them deal with all of these creatures?! Vivid imaginings came to mind as he recalled each of these creatures to go with the stories, excepting a few new ones. But those images were even more terrible, because he did not know what to expect from this.

How had they escaped nearly unscathed each time?! It had taken in nearly an entire week to lock up his experimental shape-shifter, only to have it escape on him not matter the container that he locked it within!

This was wrong! So wrong! He never would have thought that the boy let alone anyone would unearth one of his books! And look what it had caused! The author took a gulp of his Mabel juice to calm down. This family would be the death of him! The absolute death!

He had never wanted anyone so young to be involved in this! Those twins, they were just children! All the dangerous things that went on in this town could have seriously harmed them, and his brother just let it be! Gravity Falls could scar a person permanently, there was no escaping the pull of the town once you got a taste of it.

Just children! Innocent children who had fallen victim to the gravitational pull of his damned Oregon town! It had manipulated them. Ensured that everything they cared about was in this town. Now it held it all in it's clutches. Fate could strike when it chose do so, destroying them. It would cause everything they cared about to change, and there was nothing that would ever be able to prevent it. Nothing at all.

The author poured himself another glass of the delightful juice the girl had created and chugged it all in one go, hoping that the sweet substance would rid him of the bitter taste and rising bile in his stomach.

These twins, children barely older than twelve...

They saw what they shouldn't have.

They got involved, tangled.

Stuck in the mess of the past.

A mess that selfish men refused to pick up.

A mess that cost the girl sitting before him something. The things that he and his brother had done to this girl, this sweet little annoying child, forcing her to choose like this, forcing her to think so much beyond her years...

Growing up is optional. Untill the circumstances force you to become the person you swore you'd never be. Knowing that for a brief moment, she had control of the _entire universe..._ It made him regret ever building that machine. Knowing that she had been pushed beyond the boundaries of herself, only to leave her confused and distraught...

Nothing good could come of this. It was the material that demons thrived on. The one true sob story that would leave for the deal of the century... He had to keep Bill away from this girl at all costs. He would make promises and pretend to understand her human feelings. He would have her singing his praises within a matter of minutes.

This never should have happened to such a young girl.

It was the death of innocence as he knew it.

"Mister author-guy?" The brunette timidly asked. "You look a little scary right now."

It was only then that the author realized the grip on his eternally refilling Mabel juice had drastically tightened, and was shaking in his hand. If he had a mirror, there was no doubt that his expression would be even worse.

"You're a good girl, you know that?" He asked.

"Er, ok."

"You have family that cares about you. No matter what, they care. They'll forget all about this if you give it some time. They care too much for them to ever hate you for what you've done."

She seemed almost awed by his words, surprised that he had said something longer than five words. The glimmer of hope and amazement in her eyes caused him to laugh a bit. He had destroyed this little girl's innocence by his mere existence. He had been told time in and time again that everyone would be happier if he didn't exist, but he never had any proof to support the claims. Until now. Well who would've thought?

The author gave a dark chuckle, sipping more of the Mabel juice. Great stuff that Mabel juice was. He felt more alive than ever, ready to take on the world and them some. He just loved how the glitter scratched at his throat like sandpaper. It was almost like having a throat massage without the choking and screams of; "I'm gonna' kill you!"

Mabel, yes Mabel was that little bugger's name, she tilted her head, quite adorably may he add, like baby puppycat.

"What's so funny?" Mabel wondered.

"Mabel." The author slurred, getting to shaky feet. "I propose a toast!"

"A toast?" Mabel inquired.

"Gimme' your glass."

He grabbed it from the girl and poured her a generous helping of Mabel juice. There was no need to be stingy after all.

"I thought you said I shouldn't have any more."

The author narrowed his eyes from behind his glasses. The past! Why did that frame of time always have to cause so much problems for him?! Here he was, trying to have a moment to appreciate life with his grand-niece-daughter... His young relative, and it got in the way!

"Don't live in the past." The author admonished. "It'll just hold you down, knowing that it will repeat no matter how hard you try to avoid it."

That excuse seemed to be sufficient enough for Mabel. She too climbed to unsteady feet and joined on his side of the table so the could toast properly.

"Cheers!" The elderly man started. "To persistent, caring, lovable, family!"

"To family!" Mabel nodded.

Mabel chugged her entire glass of Mabel juice, while the author took a swig from the bottle. He nearly choked on one of the non-edibles, but didn't really care. He wiped the blue and pink syrupy stuff from his chin, and made sure that the girl's glass was refilled again.

"To loving friends! No matter how estranged and insane they may be!" The elderly man added.

"To friends!" The brunette repeated.

Again, both of the Pines drank from their bottomless supply of Mabel juice.

"To Gravity Falls!" He hiccuped.

"Yeah!" She agreed.

A third round followed, and before either one of them knew what was happening, they were simply passing the jug of Mabel juice back and forth, each one taking turns to toast whatever came to mind. Mabel his greatest-grand-niece... He really needed to remember how families work and how they were related to each other again... Mabel, his young relative passed out after the fifth toast, honouring loyal pets that would pull through in times of need.

The girl fell asleep almost on him, haphazardly slouched between the shattered kitchen table and his shoulders. He relieved her loosening hands of the glass before it dropped and shattered. Although, come to think of it, how had it not been broken before? Ah well, no matter, so long as brother dearest wasn't left without one less glass to never wash.

It was only now that the author realized that he was down to his last tiny shot of Mabel juice. He inspected the juice within the jug, swirling it around with faint amusement. This girl certainly was one of a kind, and this juice hers was great! He had never felt so awake and aware of everything around him before! It felt like he would never have to sleep again!

He looked at the dosing girl, and knew what he wanted to toast for. Raising the jug as high in to the air as his arm would stretch, the elderly man gave her a brief nod.

"To you Mabel, and the challenges that you faced." He murmured. "To the death of innocence..."

The author downed the final sweet drops of Mabel juice, the taste of childhood and naïvety, the feeling of no worries, and clear skies ahead. The last thought he had before passing out was that he did not even mind he was falling asleep, and Bill would catch up to him.

Bill could stuff his fancy clothes and squeaky voice where the sun didn't shine for all he cared. That guy just didn't know when to shut up and go away. For now, he was just going for forget about that stupid triangle's plans to get some rest. He'd worry about reality in the morning.

_**Fin**_


End file.
